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Only 39% of students at four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. had physical education and exercise requirements in 2012, compared with 97% in 1920, according to a study in the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. "It is alarming to see four-year institutions following the path that K-12 schools have already gone down, eliminating exercise as part of the curriculum even as obesity rates climb," said lead author Brad Cardinal.

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Michigan's 28 community colleges support the creation of four-year nursing degree programs at their schools and say such programs could help them align students' skills with industry needs. Lawmakers have introduced a bill to allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees in nursing, but some four-year colleges are opposed.

Illinois community college presidents will meet to discuss whether to seek legislation allowing them to offer four-year degrees, Carl Sandburg College President Lori Sundberg says. Staffing demands from health care employers, particularly for nurses, are driving the discussion, Sundberg said.

Two- and four-year colleges in Washington state have agreed to a process to help smooth the way for nursing students to earn a bachelor's degree. Under the program, students will spend their first three years at community or technical colleges and move to four-year institutions for their final year after passing national licensing exams for registered nurses. The new model eliminates the problem of students losing credits when they transfer to four-year programs.

Only 39% of students at four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. had physical education and exercise requirements in 2012, compared with 97% in 1920, according to a study in the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. "It is alarming to see four-year institutions following the path that K-12 schools have already gone down, eliminating exercise as part of the curriculum even as obesity rates climb," said lead author Brad Cardinal.

Women attending two-year colleges were more likely than those attending four-year colleges to eat less healthy meals, take diet pills, watch television often, and be overweight or obese, a study of 16,539 students showed. However, researchers found that women who went to four-year colleges were more likely to use potentially dangerous weight-control strategies, such as vomiting and binge eating.